What we need [2 Corinthians 12 v 1- 10 ]

Are you burdened today? well what can one do with the burdens we carry?, as I write this I thought on the apostle Paul, and what he wrote in 2 Corinthians 11, there he shares with his readers , the things he had ,to cope with. Consider them ,/Hard work,imprisonment,being whipped time without number,facing death continually, being stoned, being shipwrecked, in danger from his own people, the Jews, from robbers,being hungry and thirsty, having not enough clothes to keep him warm. You would think that all those things were enough to cope with,but he goes unto to write of having a daily burden and concern for the churches.If we move unto chapter twelve we also read of the apostle having a thorn in the flesh, [ some bodily ailment ]. What would any of us do if we had to face such things? how did he manage?, the answer is very simple , the grace of God. [2 Corinthians 12v 9]. Whatever we are called to face this day, the way to face it , is by the grace of God, it is all we need., consider the words of the old hymn,/Through many dangers , toils and snares, I have already come, tis grace hath brought me safe thus far , and grace will lead me home. So today ,let us trust God for the grace we need. [ God of all grace we come to you in all our need, grant unto us all the grace we need, for all that we have to face today we ask this in the name of Jesus Amen ]

Live without fear.[ Luke 12 v 4-7 ]

The other day I spotted from my living room window a little sparrow, I thought ,I feel so insignificant like that sparrow, and then I remembered what my Saviour taught, that God does not forget a single one of them, He then reminds us that we are more valuable than many sparrows. Because we are of value to God we are not to be afraid, many are fearful today, fear stalks the land, unemplyment, sickness,the list is endless. Are you fearful today? if you are a child of God , think on what your Saviour taught, that your loving heavenly Father is watching over you. The hymn writer puts it like this, / Let not my heart be troubled, His tender words I hear, And resting in His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears, Tho by the path He leadeth, But one step I may see, His eye is on the sparrow, And I know He watches me./ Today let us live with confidence in our loving heavenly Fathers care, knowing that He will not fail us, we are of so much value to Him that He give His son Jesus to die for us, Romans 8 v32, reads,/ He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not, with Him also freely give us all things/. [ Father in heaven we thank You that you love us so much, and value us so much ,that You gave Your dear Son to die for us on Calvary,help us to live without fear, to live with the confidence that You will care for us come what may, we ask this in Jesus name Amen ]

I remember [ Lamentations 3 v22 -25 ]

Easter Sunday for me is a time when I remember, the night when I attended a church, in Belfast, and surrendered my life afresh to Jesus, that night my life changed, for good, my life took on a new direction. That was forty five years ago,it hasnt been glory all the way but it has been grace all the way, but one day it will be eternal glory. Within those forty five years many things have happened, it has been forty five years of following Jesus, we dont have days off, in following Jesus, it is an everyday experience. Often I have not understood the way I was being led , but with hindsight, I can see Gods purposes and understand them more clearly, and can trully say , all the way my Saviour led me. There have been tears and joy, but most of all , and best of all He my Saviour has been with me, yes I remember, and I give thanks. [Dear loving Father we give You thanks for intervening in our lives through Jesus Your son, we acknowledge Your love, mercy, and grace, has transformed us, for the better, and as we face the unknown future we are confident that You will be with us, to change us,to lead us, and to bless us , Amen ]

Secure [ Psalm 23 ]

Continually God speaks words of assurance to His people, why? because so many of them feel insecure, I wonder why that is?. Well I suppose life has a great deal of uncertainty about it, a hundred to one shot won the grand national, the fact is we can take all the precautians we feel that is necessary , and still find ourselves in a place of vulnerability.Nothing is totally certain in life,we can hedge our bets but still loose out,so in the midst of all this uncertainty it is important that we hear from God, and to believe what He says to us personally.Today if things are getting on top of you , turn to Gods word, hear what He has to say to you, and rest in it, pray over it,believe it, turn to Psalm 23,and meditate on those wonderful words. Like a little child who snuggles up on their mums lap , to them that is the place of warmth and security, so today let us snuggle up to our loving Heavenly Father, let His loving arms enfold you, and be at peace.[ Father we come into your presence and ask that You would help us to know in our hearts Your peace, and comfort, in the midst of this very insecure world, we ask this in Jesus name , Amen ]

The real point of Calvary [ Isaiah 53 ]

I read a daily devotional which was stressing the question of , / Who crucified Jesus? /, to me that is not the vital question, Im not saying it is not important, I believe the more important question is , why was Jesus crucified?. Jesus was crucified on the cross because of His love for humanity, that means you and me. The cross is about dealing with the great problem of sin, your sin and my sin, God loves this world that means you and me, but because of our sin we are alenated from God, we are in a very real sense without God and without hope. In order to deal with this terrible problem God in the person of His son, sent Him into this world, with the purpose of dealing with the sin problem. Sin must be punished, that punishment means eternal seperation from God,so on the cross Jesus bore that punishment, so that all who trust in Jesus as Saviour, are saved from eternal seperation from God. The cross of Jesus opens up the way for God to have a relationship, with humanity,that means you and me, I have to stress the importance of each individual trusting Jesus personally, it only becomes effective when we do this.[God we thank You for sending Your Son into this world to die on the cross for sin , help us to trust in Jesus as our Saviour today Amen ]

Giving [ Matthew 6 v25-34 ]

I have come to a conclusion, it has taken me many years to come to it, and its this I believe in giving, not tithing, in saying this I know that many will disagree .I believe that tithing is to do with the old covenant, I live under the new covenant,no where does it teach believers to tithe. To tithe is safe , but to believe in giving as is taught in the new covenant, appears more risky, and more challenging, compare Matthew 6 v19- 21/ Luke 6 v38/Mark 12 v41 -44. The giving I am talking about is to do with money, but we can broaden it out to embrace all of life, our time our gifts our abilities. Let me say this we are to be guided by the Spirit of God, and the word of God, we are to prayerfully, commit all things to God. [Dear God help us to rise to what it means to live under the new covenant, help us by Your grace to meet every challenge of this day, and to respond to those challenges as our Saviour would have us to do Amen ].

The jumble of life.[ Luke 10 v 38 - 42 ]

.Years ago in the far distant past there used to be jumble sales a favourite activity to raise money, they are no longer. Life often appears like piles of jumble, a mixture of so many things, as we consider this jumble we can despair, because we feel we cannot sort the jumble out. At times we feel overloaded, and dont know how we are going to manage in this jumble of life. There was a lady in the Bible who felt that life was a jumble ,her name was Martha, she had so much to do, she couldnt cope, so she did what most of us do she moaned and complained to Jesus. First of all Jesus gently rebuked her, and then He pointed to a person who had chosen to quitely stop and listen to Him. The jumble of life can only be dealt with if we let Jesus first of all deal with us, by getting us to bring Him into the situation, we need to continually seek the Lord , wait upon Him, bring all the jumble of life to Him, and if we do ,we will really be surprised how He will sort out all the jumble of life. [ Dear Lord Jesus sometimes life overwhelms us ,it really appears to be a jumble of things, so today we commit everything to You, for only You can enable us to cope, and only You can sort out the jumble of life . Amen ]